CNET Editors' review
Sid Meier's Civilization franchise is considered one of the greatest computer strategy games of all time, and the fourth iteration in the series aims to take the gameplay even further with improved graphics, more accurate combat-unit "strength," seven religions, and new diplomatic options. The demo offers a tutorial featuring a cartoon Sid Meier himself, and a 100-turn game as the Incans, Greeks, Romans, or Indians. While the tutorial is solid and the provided map is large enough to be interesting, some frame lag in combat sequences and nasty behavior after finishing your game keep the demo for the prestigious strategy game from earning a top rating.
If you're never played the Civilization games, the tutorial is a worthwhile venture, but if you're familiar with the gameplay, we recommend skipping it. It only covers the basics instead of just the new features, and the allure of cartoon Sid quickly fades. The real meat is in the demo game, where you choose between Huayna Capac, Alexander, Julius Caesar, or Gandhi in a four-way royal rumble. You'll be able to build cities, create military and worker units, establish trade routes, and pursue war against any or all of the competing civilizations.
Once you get the 300 MB file onto your PC, the installation is simple and fast. We were up and playing in less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately, completing a game isn't nearly as pleasant. With no recap or status update, the demo kicks you back to Windows after your 100-turn game or tutorial, then spawns a brief advertisement and opens your default browser to the 2K Games site. Since most units and buildings take numerous turns to produce, a 100-turn game is short enough that the demo should allow you to play it repeatedly, without having to restart the application or visit any Web sites without warning.
Publisher's Description
From 2K Games:
Sid Meier and Firaxis Games take the fun and addictive game of Civilization to new heights by adding new ways to play a win, new tools to manage and expand your civilization, all-new easy-to-use mod capabilities, and intense multiplayer modes and options. Civilization IV comes to life as never before in a beautifully detailed 3D world that elevates the gameplay experience to a whole new level.
This demo for Civilization IV includes a tutorial and a 100-turn game where you can play as the Greek, Roman, Incan, or Indian nations.
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All versions:
3.2 starsout of 32 votes
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Current version:
3.2 starsout of 32 votes
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My rating:
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"Nothing i could do to play this demo, tried over & over"
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
It was a good thought that i could actually come here and download this demo and would actually get to play it.
Cons
I downloaded this demo more than once and spent days trying to play it but guess what, it wasnt happening.
Summary
Civilization is awesome. Its just not awesome on pc. Do you know what would happen if i had a civ demo on xbox? I would actually be able to push a button and play the thing.
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"VERY unhappy!! Downloaded file wouldn't open..."
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
Can't tell you because I couldn't play the demo.
Cons
Again, I can't say anything because I couldn't play the demo.
Summary
I have Civ III Complete and love it ! Decided to try Civ IV Demo to see if I wanted to upgrade to it or even wait and get Civ V. I have a new system & have never had problems with downloads before from this site, but this one wouldn't run after I downloaded it no matter what I tried. No error messages, just won't work. I even tried just the setup.exe file and it requested "insert demo disk". What a waste of time !!!
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"I want the game."
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
Graphics look great, not to tedious to control your empire.
Cons
Only 100 turn demo.
Summary
My wife has played the third one before when it came out and so we decided to try the fourth one to see if we want it. She liked the improvements and voted yes on getting it, I thought it looked great and could provide some fun for quite a while.
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"adequate"
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
CIV III was better this is simply CIV II with better graphics
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"Buy only if you haven't played the series before."
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
Ok, it has afew minor new features, but possibly the 2 greatest improvements are computer IQ and early city development. After 1, 2,3 Civ, AC Civ etc, the major loopholes in military gameplay have been essentially closed. Also slightly better playing steamlining.
If you haven't played the series to date, then it's worth buying. It will give you weeks or more likely months of playtime.
Cons
I must say that some of the hyped up new features are more gimmick than substance. After playing the other Civ series games, I find that there isn't enough original development and substancially make this better and justify the expense of Civ 4 + expansions. And you need the expansions to make this a proper game. Civ 4 on it's own is really just 1/2 a game.
For those of us who played multiple prior Civ series games before, there isn't enough in this new version to hold our interest. It just gets too tiring to do it all again. (essentially, not enough original content & development).
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"This file is corrupted."
Version: Civilization IV demo
Cons
This file is corrupted. It would not install.
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"Better than all prior Civ versions."
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
You can decide on what type of game you want, short, long, mega long ;) Pretty much all around great game play.
Cons
Sometimes takes up too much memory. Make sure you have a good graphics card and plenty of memory when playing this game.
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"Sid Keeps getting better!"
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
Each sequel keeps getting better and better. This Civ has added religion to the gameplay, which can make or destroy relationships with your neighbors - staying true to history with leaders disagreeing with neighboring countries religions. The options are almost unlimited, so each scenario you play feels like a whole new game. You can play quick games or "epic" games, there are tons of options for your terraforming, overall the game is perfect.
Cons
If you don't have a fast computer, the gameplay can be tedius as you wait for the graphics to load just simply so you can "enter" to the next turn. I played this on my 1.4 ghz processor laptop and it grew very tiresome. Once I loaded it on my desktop (2.4 ghz) it ran flawlessly.
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"Great"
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
good gameplay, not very hard, etc.
Cons
Just a demo- that sucks. It also looks like some of the people here need some new hardware, if they cant run this.
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"cool"
Version: Civilization IV demo
Pros
battles
Cons
cool
